Magnetic stands of varying shapes, sizes and strengths are commercially available from many vendors for use in magnetic particle based nucleic acid extractions. In extraction using magnetic stands, the nucleic acids remains in the same plate for all wash steps and are eluted from the magnetic particles at the last step. However, the plate must be moved to and from the magnetic stand depending on the step of the extraction and/or to and from the shaker for shaking/vortexing steps.
Alternative methods for nucleic acid extraction use an electromagnet. For example, the electromagnet can be used to move the magnetic particles (including nucleic acids bound thereto) from one wash plate to the next. Particles are released from the electromagnet into each new plate. The movement of plates between a magnetic stand and a shaker, and/or of magnetic particles between different plates, is a rate limiting step in the extraction process which reduces throughput.